Pricing
Firm-Fixed Price.
Quoted in Two Business Days.
Near-space flight test, quoted firm-fixed for the mission — not by the billable hour. No time-and-materials clock, no open-ended engagement. You know the number before you commit, and the number holds.
How to Get a Quote
You do not need a finished payload to get a number. Most teams come to us while the design is still moving.
Tell us what you need to prove
A short note on what you are building and what the flight has to demonstrate. A concept is enough — you do not need finished hardware to start.
Scope the flight in 30 minutes
You talk to an engineer. Together you set the flight profile and the mass and volume budget your payload has to fit inside.
Firm-fixed quote in two business days
The quote arrives with available flight windows. It is firm-fixed, so the number you circulate is the number you pay.
Sign and we hold your window
Your deposit books the mission and holds your date on the Flight Test Calendar.
A Number You Can Put in a Budget
Most ways to get flight-environment data come with an open-ended price tag. A consulting engagement bills time and materials — the meter runs whether or not you get the data. A “free” ride-along on someone else's program costs you schedule certainty instead of dollars.
StratoStar prices the mission firm-fixed, in writing, before you sign. That's a number you can drop into an SBIR or grant proposal as a defensible line item, push up your approval chain without an asterisk, and defend to leadership reviewing which programs to keep.
Real Flight Test. Real Data. Real Budgets.
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Firm-fixed price, quoted before you sign
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A defensible line item for proposals and budgets
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A quote in two business days — not a sales cycle
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Mission Access Fee quoted per mission, locked in your quote
Two Services, One Firm-Fixed Quote
Flight Qualification Service (FQS)
Components & subsystems — radios, sensors, antennas, boards
Quoted in two business days
- Payload
- 2–6 lb payload
- Flight time
- 2–3 hours
- Plus
- Mission Access Fee
- Private mission
- Available
Integrated Flight Service (IFS)
Integrated systems & full payloads
Quoted in two business days
- Payload
- 4–80 lb payload
- Flight time
- 3–6 hours (float phase)
- Plus
- Mission Access Fee
- Private mission
- Available
Not sure which fits your payload? FQS is component-scale (2–6 lb); IFS is system-scale (4–80 lb). Compare the services →
Private Missions
Both FQS and IFS are available as private missions — a dedicated flight flown for your payload alone. No co-passengers, your timeline, full control of the flight profile, and sensitive-payload handling when you need it. Because every private mission is scoped to your requirements, pricing is firm-fixed and quoted after a short consultation. Flying heavier than the standard 20 lb? IFS runs as a private mission for payloads up to 80 lb.
Your Quote Buys a Complete Flight Test
Every firm-fixed mission returns the Mission Package — not just a flight.
Real environmental characterization — thermal, pressure, RF path, radiation
Your payload's telemetry, correlated to the flight environment
High-resolution photography of your hardware at altitude
Mission video reel — launch through recovery
Engineering report structured for TRL / heritage assessment
Hardware returned within 72 hours of landing
99%+ recovery, backed by a re-flight guarantee
No Surprises Between the Quote and the Launch
Your quote is built on what you tell us about the payload — weight included — so the process is built to lock that number down early and keep it honest.
You disclose the payload
A short Payload Disclosure Form captures your declared weight, dimensions, and payload details — what your firm-fixed quote is built on.
We re-weigh before integration
When your hardware arrives, we verify the actual weight before it's integrated for flight. If it matches your declaration, nothing changes.
Overage at a known rate
If your payload comes in over its declared weight, the extra weight is billed at the overage rate set in your services agreement — a known number agreed up front, not a penalty.
Payment Schedule
Deposit — books the mission and holds your Flight Test Calendar window
Due 30 days before launch (L-30)
After launch — final invoice, including any weight-overage adjustment
A Clean Quote and a Clean Contract
A firm-fixed number is only half of an easy purchase; the other half is the paperwork. StratoStar uses standard, battle-tested service agreements (FQS, IFS, and a Sensitive Payload Addendum) and has contracted with primes, integrators, and multi-party programs before. The agreement is ready to review, not drafted from scratch — so a clean quote and a clean contract travel up your approval chain together.
Pricing FAQ
- How is a near-space flight test priced?
- Firm-fixed, per mission. After a short scoping conversation we quote your mission against the payload you describe and the flight profile it needs, and we return that quote in two business days. The Mission Access Fee is included in the quote, so the number you receive is the whole number — not a starting point.
- Why don't you publish rates?
- Because a rate card cannot price your mission, and most of the people who talk to us are still designing the payload. Every mission is quoted against a specific payload and a specific flight profile — mass, volume, power, altitude, duration, and what you need the flight to prove. A short scoping call and a firm-fixed quote in two business days gets you a defensible number faster than a rate you would have to reverse-engineer against hardware that does not exist yet. The quote is firm-fixed before you sign.
- What's the difference between FQS and IFS pricing?
- The difference is capability, and the price follows it. FQS covers component- and subsystem-scale payloads (2–6 lb) on a standard flight profile. IFS covers integrated systems and larger payloads (4–80 lb) and adds sustained altitude plus real-time telemetry and in-flight commanding. IFS is the more capable service and is priced higher. Both are quoted firm-fixed.
- What is the Mission Access Fee?
- A per-mission fee, quoted with your firm-fixed price, that covers launch operations, FAA coordination, tracking, recovery, and the Mission Package deliverable. It is quoted per mission because it flexes with the add-on services you choose and the flight window you book. Once it is in your quote, it is locked.
- Is the price really fixed?
- Yes — firm-fixed before you sign. The only adjustment is a payload that comes in over its declared weight, which is reconciled on the final invoice at the overage rate set in your services agreement — a known number, agreed up front.
- How does payment work?
- A 50% deposit books your mission and holds your Flight Test Calendar window; 40% is due 30 days before launch; the final 10% is invoiced after launch, including any weight-overage adjustment.
- What if my payload weighs more than I declared?
- We re-weigh every payload before integration. If it is over the weight on your Payload Disclosure Form, the extra pounds are billed at the overage rate set in your services agreement — a known rate agreed before you fly, not a penalty.
- Do you fly private or dedicated missions?
- Yes, on both FQS and IFS. A private mission is flown for your payload alone, on your schedule. Because each is scoped to your requirements, private missions are firm-fixed and quoted after a short consultation.